Culture and leisure

Dramatic sweeping steel bands will envelop the structure of the Israeli Design Museum, designed by Ron Arad, Israel's most outstanding architect. The Museum, still under construction, is due to open to the public by the end of 2008. The distinctive concept for the Museum, conceived as a landmark center of architecture, design and art, incorporates designs from industry, fashion and textile designs, visual communications, jewelry and accessory designs. Presenting an array of displays to evoke a variety of sensory experiences, the Museum will educate, enlighten and, most importantly, delight the visitors with new interpretations of design.
The Museum accommodates two primary galleries and a number of exhibition spaces in-between. The main gallery, on the first floor of the east wing, is constructed as a high-ceilinged open-plan box with a net area of 490 square meters. The second gallery is located in the west wing past the reception area and has a net area of 210 square meters. Adjacent to the second gallery is the resident designer's lab. This space of 39 square meters provides a flexible workshop and exhibition environment, allowing partial exposure of the visitors to the creative process. The theatrical entrance stairway adjacent to the cafe provides a covered amphitheatre, which may be used for public events and outdoor exhibitions. The Museum's large inner courtyard provides a sunlit external exhibition area of 300 square meters for outdoor exhibits, and serves as a stage for special events. The 120 square meters education area in the west wing will accommodate a small exhibition facility for showcasing students and children's work in progress.
Support is needed beyond the contributions received from government and private foundations to complete this project. We welcome any further support. Naming and commemoration opportunities are still available. Your support will give Israelis and visitors from abroad the opportunity to expand their appreciation and understanding of art and design for many years to come.
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October 2007 Holon will open the Israel Caricature Museum, one of only 11 such museums in the world. In a country where everyone is a political analyst, it is little surprise that cartoons have a wide popularity. The museum will promote the art form in general, provide a venue for the display of local work and educate a wider generation of future artists and educated consumers. The museum will feature changing as well as permanent exhibitions, including the work of leading Israeli artists as Dosh, Ze'ev, Fridel and Navon. A special area will be devoted to the social and political prominence of cartoons in Israeli culture. A virtual collection and archive will be accessible through the Internet.
Address: Weizmann Street. Tel.: not available yet.
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The Israel Puppet Center Holon, located in a new complex of its own, incorporates a museum devoted to puppet theatre, a puppetry school and a 150-seats auditorium. It is also home to procession and street-theatre workshops, an institute for research, documentation and conservation of puppet theatre, a library and archives. One highlight is the annual International Puppet Theater and Film Festival. The complex with all its components is an unprecedented venue in Israel, the likes of which are very rare worldwide. Further support and/or sponsoring are needed to produce both the annual Festival and new exhibitions and to enlarge and upgrade the existing puppet collection.
Address: Remez Street 13. Tel.: 972 3 65 16 848.
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The Silence Exhibition in Holon's Children Museum allows visitors to penetrate into the world of the deaf. Visitors are equipped with a personal device that cuts them off from all sounds. A team of 30 deaf and hearing-impaired guides shows visitors around, inviting them to 'hear with their eyes' and 'talk with their hands'. Visitors learn that the world of 'the other' is not inferior, but only different. The Silence Exhibition was held for the first time in Paris' La Cit? des Sciences et l'Industrie, where it was chosen as the best exhibition in 20 years. In Holon, with all its different communities, the exhibition is hoped to contribute to breaking barriers and overcoming prejudice.
Address: Israeli Children's Museum, Mifratz Shlomo Street. Tel.: 972 3 65 03 000.
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The Center serves as a link between contemporary digital arts achievements and the community at large. It displays video and media creations of Israeli and international artists. Changing exhibits are displayed in nine art galleries along with an exhibit of the center at www.digitalartlab.org.il . For those who are involved in the arts, the center is a place for research, production (the center has a video studio), distribution, conservation and professional consultation. Support is needed to renovate and prepare the center's yard for additional exhibitions, to prepare students for studies in digital arts and to educate teachers.
Address: 16 Yirmiyahu Street. Tel.: 972 3 55 68 792.
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If sufficient funding will be acquired a new Toys Museum will be established in Holon. Since the dawn of history, toys have been inseparable from children and toys from the past offer a unique glance into human and cultural history. The collection assembled over the past two years includes tin toys, dolls and puppets, stuffed animals, board games, hug toys, Jewish toys and toys from the Holocaust. Artist Ruth Zarfati donated the backbone of the collection. Recently Holon was offered the historical Ben Gurion airport terminal building as housing for the Toy Museum. The relocation of the terminal to Holon is estimated to cost 2 million USD and will take not more than 6 months to complete. The terminal is considered to be the perfect home for the aspired Toy Museum, both because of its historical value to Israelis and its fish-shaped body that will be an inviting appearance to children.
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